Sermon Illustrations

Text, Exodus 19:4, KJV: Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.

When was the last time you found anything inspiring, let alone inspirational, when you renew your car's license plate/s? A few days before I wrote this, well, it was anything but inspiring. Even so there was one glimmer or glimpse of something so beautiful, it's almost beyond words.

Now, I got to the office about noon which, for whatever reason, seems to be the time when people come in and clerks leave (okay, they deserve a lunch break too--I get it!). There were only a few people in line ahead of me, and here's where I saw something beautiful.

A young mother was standing--yes, standing, holding her daughter on her shoulder. She was offered a seat but said, no thanks, and remained standing. The little girl didn't say a word, just snuggled down on her mother's shoulder. This little girl was probably about 2 years of age, but not the terrible twos as some call them. No, she behaved very well.

Then for me, it clicked. Even the lightest load begins to feel heavy after a while, and children, no matter how light they might be, have to become a bit of a load, especially when you're holding onto them.

But not so for this pair. Mom looked at the little girl and smiled, and the little girl smiled back. This was so beautiful to observe.

And I realized--the little girl was no burden for her mother. The love "Mom" had for her little girl far outweighed any sense of weight, burden, or anything else. I carefully approached them and told the mother, "You've given me a new sermon illustration--for a mother, a child is never a burden!" She smiled, looking like, perhaps, she had never heard this before.

The nation of Israel had heard something like this, too, when God spoke to them in Exodus 19. In the context, Israel was at the foot of Mount Sinai, and God had called Moses up to the mountain top. Nobody needed reminding how God had got them out of Egypt, by crossing the Red Sea on dry ground, and how God had provided fresh water and food every day since they left (excepting the three days at Marah, but that was part of God's testing of them)!

So much more could be said about eagles and the way they raise their young, but for now God is reminding them, "You are not a burden to Me" because He loved them and wanted the best for Israel, then, now, and in the future.

If, to a mother, a child is never a burden, aren't you glad we aren't a burden to our Heavenly Father?

Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)

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